Dumpster Diver Sues Maplewood Cop Over Arrest

MAPLEWOOD (AP) - A St. Louis County man who says he sorts through trash bins to help feed the homeless is suing a Maplewood police sergeant over what he calls the use of excessive force in an early-morning arrest.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 35-year-old Timothy Peterka of Ballwin says in federal lawsuit filed in St. Louis that he suffered a sprain wrist, cracked ribs and a cut on his chin requiring 11 stitches when he was arrested after 1 a.m. in late February behind the Deer Creek shopping plaza on Laclede Station Road.

An attorney for the city of Maplewood says Sgt. Tony Cavanaugh acted properly. The suit also accuses the city of failing to properly train its police officers and seeks unspecified financial damages.